Environmental Sustainability Council

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY COUNCIL (ESC) Thursday, February 20, 2020, City Hall Dogwood Rooms, 7:30 – 9:30 p.m. APPROVED MINUTES 1. Attendees: ESC Members: Andy Young (Chair), Jon Ward, Andy Sakallaris, Stacey Evers, Sarah Bayldon, Mike Trauberman, Andy Crawford (arrived near end). Student reps: Niharika Sinhvi, Colter Adams. City Council: Dan Sze. City Staff: N/A. Planning Commission Liaison: Tim Stevens. Public: N/A. 2. January 2020 ESC Meeting Minutes: Motion to approve by Andy S., seconded by Mike T. Approved unanimously (5-0) 3. Solid Waste Reduction: Guest speaker Lonnie Marquetti (City Staff) was unable to attend and will be rescheduled. She had indicated to Stacey Evers that she could use ESC support in updating the Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP). It was stated that the “purple bin” glass-diversion effort is a 6-month pilot, sending glass to a plant in North Carolina. Before helping with the SWMP, the ESC would want to understand the City’s financials for recycling and waste disposal. o ACTION ITEM 1: [all] Review the SWMP ahead of the meeting with Lonnie Marqueti. The webpage (http://www.fallschurchva.gov/369/Trash-Recycling-Compost) has links to the 218- page 2004 Plan and a 5-page Executive Summary. It also states there were updates in 2010 and 2015. o ACTION ITEM 2: [Stacey & student reps] Work with George Mason High School students to develop a task for the Environmental Club or others, supporting community outreach related to recycling, recycling markets, and/or waste reduction. 4. Subcommittee Reports: o Energy Transition Subcommittee (ETS): The Solarize campaign will run April 6th -June 5th, but the Local Energy Alliance Program (LEAP) will resume including a home energy assessment at some point in the Solarize process. The status of the Virginia Clean Economy Act and ‘solar freedom’ bills in the legislature was summarized. o Education Task Group (ETG): Sarah Bayldon will serve as Acting Head temporarily until Tina Ho can take over. o Habitat Restoration Team (HRT): The Team set its priorities to (a) continue supporting restoration projects planned by Jeremy Edwards (DPW Green Space manager); (b) focus on the Fellows Property, and use it as a test case for developing a “natural resource baseline” of plants and animals in a plot of land; and (c) support the “Audubon at Home” program through Sandy Tarpinian. 5. 2019 ESC Annual Report: ESC members had positive feedback to the Chair for the draft report that had been distributed via email. He planned to send out a final version. o ACTION ITEM 3: [all, by Thursday, 2/27] Provide comments and edits to the Chair after he distributes the final draft for review. 6. City Council Retreat: Dan Sze perceived a need for the ESC to work with other advisory groups and to be familiar with what they are doing. 7. Next Meeting (Joint with Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation)  Wednesday, March 11, 7 - 9 p.m., City Hall Dogwood Rooms  Special topic: Safer & easier walking and biking in the City Abbreviations / Terminology:  DPW: Fall Church Department of Public Works